LSU to Test Emergency Text Messaging Service Sept. 26

09/25/2012 11:41 AM

BATON ROUGE – LSU will conduct a test of the university’s emergency text messaging
system on Wednesday, Sept. 26, at 9 a.m.

In not already enrolled, LSU students, faculty and staff are asked to subscribe to
the text messaging service as soon as possible by clicking on the “Emergency Text
Message” link under the “Campus Community” section in the myLSU portal and registering
their cell phone number. Please register by 5 a.m. on Sept. 26 to be included in the
test.

There is no fee to subscribe, but participants will have to pay regular text messaging
rates through their cellular providers. Only members of the LSU community may register
their cell phones. The service is limited to LSU students, faculty and staff in order
to maintain a list of recipients that ensures critical messages get to the campus
community as rapidly as possible.

LSU tests its emergency text messaging system twice a year with the last test occurring
Feb. 29. Even though the system has been used already this semester for Hurricane
Isaac and for the bomb threat, LSU is still planning to hold its previously scheduled
test on Sept. 26.

Emergency text messaging is one of multiple communication channels utilized by the
university in the event of an emergency. Others include broadcast email, the LSU website,
LSU social media sites, broadcast voicemail to campus phones, desktop alerts to campus
computers, and campus and local media.

During the text message test, LSU will also test emergency broadcast email, as well
as computer desktop notifications in select computer labs and multimedia classrooms,
and in certain departments. Emergency broadcast emails are generated by the same service
that handles LSU’s emergency text messages, and will display the sender as “LSU eTXT!”